The New York Times ran a fascinating investigatory piece today on pork shanks, which are usually two-ounce pieces of pork cut from the fibula of a ham shank, and are sold by QVC as Paula Deen’s Smithfield 7 oz. BBQ Pork Wild Wings.  Seems the fibula used to be left in hams back in the days of yore and functioned as a convenient handle for the Norman-Rockwell-like fella carving at the table.  Nowadays boneless hams are all the rage, and so processors are using a special saw to cut the fibula into pieces, plump them up with a marinade of water, salt and “natural pork flavorings,” cook them for six to eight hours and then send them out to market.  The process just described is the one employed at Appert’s Foodservice in St. Cloud, which handles about 40% of the processed ham shank business in the U.S., while QVC’s Paula Deen product is processed by Smithfield, but I think we can assume something similar.  In any event, these tasty tid-bits can be dressed up all sorts of ways and (at sports bars and other casual dining establishments) go by names such as “squealers,” “French pork confit,” and “Eskimo Pies of pork on a stick.”